Monitoring Hurricane Matthew

One of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes in a decade slammed into Haiti early Tuesday morning. The U.S. East Coast is also preparing for possible landfall.

Haiti, one of the world’s poorest countries, will receive anywhere from 15 to 40 inches of rain. The government of Haiti has opened 1,300 emergency shelters, enough to hold about 340,000 people. Even so, there is a misconception that to best protect a home a family should remain there during a natural disaster.

Other Caribbean countries are concerned about the impact to its economy. Tourism has halted, and agriculture could potentially have a major set-back. In Kingston, Jamaica, major roads and waterways have flooded. In Cuba, major evacuations took place.

Eight deaths have been reported.

Will you pray?

Pray for safety.

Pray for the local governments.

Pray for the most vulnerable.

Pray for the local church as they open their doors.

Gary Fairchild, CAMA’s director of Global Disaster Response, is carefully monitoring the situation and is in contact with other NGOs on the ground. He is also working with Alliance churches on the East Coast to prepare for a response if necessary.

In anticipation of this storm, you can also give to the CAMA Disaster Relief Fund. This past summer alone, your donations allowed us to come alongside local churches and NGOs to provide flood relief in five different communities:

In Burkina Faso, flooding impacted 20,000 people. The ACCEDES NGO responded in partnership with local churches to provide food and clothing to victims.

In Mali, flooding caused homes and granaries that stored families’ food supplies to collapse. We partnered with the local church to assist families in need.

In Macedonia, our partner AGAPE is providing relief in Skopje, Macedonia—a capital city reeling after a freak flood.